Slowly-migrating #alpha#-synuclein forms are found in the brains of patients with Parkinsons disease

摘要

#alpha#-Synuclein is a pivotal genetic factor implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinsons disease (PD), since pathogenic #alpha#-synuclein gene mutations occur in rare familial PD and wild-type #alpha#-synuclein appears to be a major component of Lewy bodies observed in PD. The main goal of this study was to determine whether the expression patterns of #alpha#-synuclein are differentially affected in the brains of PD, compared to normal controls. Here, we showed that new forms of the slowly-migrating #alpha#-synuclein were detected from the striatum, a region selectively affected in PD, in the brain of the patients with PD, but not from cerebellum of PD and normal controls. Moreover, these forms of #alpha#-synuclein were observed from the right brain that has a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned nigrostriatal system in a rat model of PD. The results suggest that the new differential alteration in #alpha#-synuclein might be associated with the pathogenesis of PD.